Szayel was rooted on the spot. The terrifying aura around him had disappeared but the gory scene that was in front of his eyes horrified him so much that he even forgot to breathe.
To Szayel who was taught how to fight by one of the best fighters in his clan of hundreds of thousands of people, this sight was no different than a newborn baby opening its eyes for the first time.
It was one thing when you fought someone who had no intentions of harming you to begin with, but completely different when facing someone who could kill two hundred people without even breaking a sweat. And how would you feel if that being directed their bloodlust towards you?
Szayel felt a premonition of certain death.
"Do I need to repeat myself?" asked the Semi-Saint Rank Swordsman.
"N.. No... Wait! Don't kill me! If you kill me, my clan will hunt you down!" spoke Szayel, again resorting to his clan's name.
"Did you hit your brain or something? Who would even know if I killed you right here?" retorted Kahn and put the sharp edge of his greatsword on the vampire's shoulder.
"Wait! Y.. You will get a huge reward if you escort me to our territory. You'll even get a rank amongst our faction." proposed the young vampire with his jittery mouth. Finally feeling like he could reel in the powerhouse in front of him.
"Not very bright, are you?" asked Kahn in a sarcastic tone.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"If they knew you were passing from here & planned to ambush you, means they know where you'll be heading next in case you manage to survive. It'll either be the territory you speak of or back to your clan. And they will be waiting since these guys won't be reporting about your death anyway." elaborated Kahn.
"You.. You're right. Please.. Please help me. I promise my clan will fairly compensate you, sir." spoke Szayel as soon as he realized that the black-clothed swordsman was indeed correct. The target on his back hadn't disappeared.
"And get mixed into your faction wars? No thank you. I can kill five hundred but what happens when they send five thousand?" spoke Kahn as he clenched his grip on the sword.
"Wait! Please, take my space ring and spare me. I won't tell anyone about what happened. This is what you wanted in the first place, yes?" spoke Szayel and made a pleading gesture.
No one would expect a son of some heir of one of the strongest forces in the empire pleading in front of an unknown warrior.
"Fine. I'll spare your life for the ring. Besides, I get to keep the rings for everyone else anyway. Go away, kid. I better not see you here after I turn around." replied Kahn and received the space ring. He didn't bother checking the contents and started looting the space rings of all the dead bodies one by one. As soon the Domain Artifact activation period ended, Szayel ran in the opposite direction like a rabbit running away from a tiger.
But as soon as he ran a few hundred meters.. Szayel stopped in his footsteps.
Kahn, who was busy robbing the dead, which was his true profession; smirked as soon as he heard the vampire heir's footsteps faltering.
Szayel suddenly turned around as soon as he sensed few growls and whimpers coming from the dense treelines. Belonging to ferocious beasts who already surrounded them after smelling the blood from the battlefield.
And he then returned to Kahn.
"Excuse me, O honorable sir.."
"Nope!" before he could say anything else, Kahn refused.
"O Magnanimous Lord.."
"Not a chance!"
"Please heed to my pleads.."
"Forget it. "
"The mighty sword.."
"Fuck off!"
Anyone would be left surprised if they saw that of Szayel's standing was pleading and begging in front of a corpse looter.
Kahn had already pulled in all of his aura so the monsters didn't sense how powerful he was.
Vampires themselves had a sharp hearing & eyesight. So when he felt all these prying gazes of the ferocious beasts lurking in the shadows, surrounding them from different sides.. He had no choice but to return back to Kahn.
He quickly ran close and grabbed Kahn's feet. Totally contradicting his image.
Kahn could already feel that Szayel was actually a big coward who only put up the pretense of strength and valor.
"Big brother!"
"No!"
"Uncle!"
"Not convinced."
"From now on, you're my father.. No, you're my grandfather!"
Kahn jerked his leg and kicked Szayel away.
"Stop spouting nonsense! I'm not even a vampire." spoke Kahn with an annoyed expression.
"Great Ancestor! Please save me." he knelt on the ground and bowed his head in front of Kahn.
"Hey, do I look that old to you?!" raged Kahn released half of his aura to scare off the monsters.
This act even fortified Szayel's resolve to grab Kahn's coattails and survive.
"10 million gold dramus!" he exclaimed.
Kahn's ears perked and he looked at the pleading boy.
"How do I know that you'll keep your word & not kill me instead later? I know how you rich brats from noble clans behave." spoke Kahn.
"I swear on my life a the heir of Vandereich clan. If I go back on my words, I'll turn into an eunuch." spoke Szayel haphazardly.
"Fine. But I don't want to get mixed into your wars later. I drop you to your place & then I get my reward, that's it." spoke Kahn.
[Finally, I got him!] spoke Szayel to himself.
Kahn threw back Szayel's ring and carried on gathering the space rings from all the dead. He didn't care if they belonged to the young man's faction either.
He raked in 13 new space rings. Only worn by top warriors.
"Let's leave. There's a caravan on the other side of the valley. It's enough to go undiscovered to the capital. That's where I'm going." spoke Kahn.
"That's where my clan's headquarters are also situated. Our destinations are the same!" spoke Szayel with joy. He finally felt the fear in him gone.
"But what about them.. We should give them a proper burial. Or these monsters will eat them." he said.
"Kid, I'm not your errand boy. And we're running out of time. Do you want to stay here burying your dead till the night falls?" asked Kahn as he rolled his eyes.
"I… I understand." spoke Szayel and followed behind Kahn.
Little did the Vampire clan heir know that it was actually Kahn who had him under control.
Instead of appearing as a savior, Kahn appeared as a robber to not raise suspicion from either side. And then he threatened the vampire kid so he won't treat Kahn as his servant after Kahn agreed to help him.
As for why he planned it all.. This entire plan hatched in Kahn's mind as soon as he saw the Sigil on the banners of the Vampire boy's side.
Kahn had read enough books about the history of the Rakos Empire and many of them included enough information about the government structure itself.
The sigil on the banners indicated one of the most influential departments of the government that ran this empire.
The Department of Finance.
As soon as they crossed the valley and Szayel's back was turned against the battlefield, Kahn quietly gave a command only audible to him. This command was a word that he hadn't used in a while.
Kahn smirked as he looked at the bloodied battlefield and spoke..
"Awaken."